Drift recorder



July 18, 1939.

F.. w. L AKE Er A1. 2,166,472

DRIFT RECORDER Filed Dec. 21, 1929 INI/ENTORS Francis WZa/fe & Jblm l l/V/bJr A TTORNE Y.

Patented July 18, 41939 PATENrol-Fics DRIFT REQORDER Francis W. Lake and John H. Wallace, Jr., Whit .tier, Calif., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Technical Oil Tool Corporation, Ltd., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Application December l21, 1929, serial No. 415,822

1 claim. (ci. i3-205.5)

This invention relates to improvements in the art of surveying bore holes, and more particularly to a method and anfapparatus for measuring the degree of deviation of boreholes from verf, tical.

Generally, the deviation of the bore holes from vertical is made with intricate and costly devices which are lowered into the bore hole either on the vend of a cable or on a string of tubing.

The prior methods of determining the deviapreviously suggested requires careful handling' and -frequent and costlyrepalrs y i An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above mentioned disadvantages and to provide a quick andeiective method of and means for determining the deviation from the vertical of the bottom of the bore hole in drillmg. l

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and sturdy device to accomplish the abovepurpose.

'I'he invention resides in the use of a device for determining the deviation of the lower portion of a bore hole from vertical at successive stages during the drilling of a well for the purpose of cor recting for any-deviationl It is`more essential to drill a straight hole than to survey an already.

existing crooked one. A Y

'I'he invention also resides in lowering an in-V clination recording device into a bore hole by freely introducing it into the drill pipe with the drilling mud being circulated therethrough.

Generally the device consists offa record producing device whereby theinclination of the 40 bore hole is recordedY and a weighted meansadapted to move to the plane of maximum inclination said inclination being then recorded by the recording'device. y i

' 'I'he invention further resides inA an inclination recording device comprising a cylindrical housing containing a freely .pivoted carrier weighted on one side to move into the plane of maximum inclination, a weighted wheel pivoted on the cafrier to 'rotate in said plane of maximum inclination,- '50 inclination indicating meansbeingfprovided on the wheel, anda record receiving piston above said Wheel tobe moved into engagement with thev wheel to produce a record.

The invention still further resides ln the provision of la recoil or shock-absorbing means at or near the bottom of the 'drill pipe to receive the device dropped into the drill pipe 'and to hold i said. device parallel to the axis of said drill pipe so that the deviation as recorded by the device Will be the deviation of that portion of the bore 5 hole in which the section of the drill pipe containing the recoil or shock absorbing .means is located. o

Referring to the drawing which discloses certain embodiments of the invention by way of illus- 10 tration: l l

Fig. lis a longitudinal section, partly, in elevation, of a device for recording the deviation from the vertical of any desired portion of a drill hole, said deviation recording device being adapted 15 to be dropped freely into the drill pipe during the circulation of the rotary drilling mud;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the. lower portion of the drill pipe,l showing the arrangement of the recoil orv shock-absorbing 20 means and the deviatindetermining device in operative or recording position;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section` along line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a-transverse section along line I-I of 25 Fig. 1, and shows a record receiving element in position;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section along line 5--5 of Fig. 1, showing a weighted wheel having in its periphery a deviation indicating means capable 3c' oi transferring a record to a chart thereto;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic longitudinal view of a bo're hole showing a drill pipe with the drill bit therein, a portion of said drill pipe being removed to show the location of the deviation recording 35 devicein place;

7` is a longitudinal view,'partly in section,4

oa modied form of construction of the lowerportion of the deviation recordingdevice.

As shown in the drawiggand especially in Fig; o Y

1, the'recording device fconsists of a cylindrical housing I with a cone-shaped bottom shoe 2 attachednto its'lower end and -a closure head 3 attached to its upper end. The deviation recording means is contained in the cylinder l, and 45 comprises a freely turningspindle *which rotates in bearings 5 and 8, the latter being held by means `of a 1 so that the spinale 44 rotates in the longitudinal axis of the device. Said spindle! is Y liared at the top I, and has a carrier plate! and 5d a weight Ilattached thereto. A wheel Il withv recording characters I2, suchas type, marked on its periphery is'pivotally mounted at |3 on the4 plate S, said wheel Il'having an eccentrically at- A tached weight Il. .A piston' i5 sliding in a sleeve 55 an eccentric I1 to be moved downwardly and to engage with the recording characters I2 on-the wheel II. I'he eccentric I-1 is in its turn actuated by a clock or a similar-device I8. The weight I0 rotates the spindle 4 and brings the'wheel H intol the plane of maximum deviation, while the weight I4 on said wheel II, always being at the -lowest point, causes the graduations I2 to register on the record-receiving member I6 the deviation from vertical of that point 'of the bore hole. The zero point on the wheel Il is uppermost when the position of the'device is vertical. This wheel carries degree marks whereby any deviation from vertical to either sideof the axis of the device is recorded. e

As shown in Fig. 1, the device I6, for the actuation o the eccentric I1 and of the ,piston I5, consists of an ordinary clock mechanism 2 9 operating a minute shaft 3I. Said shaft 3| corresponds to the minute shaft of an ordinary clock mechanism. A cam 32 is also mountedon shaft 3I. The cam 32 is so mounted that. it is manually revolvable in the clockwise direction by. revolving shaft 3l as is common in clock mechanisms. A gear 33 is mounted on the axis 30 .and is in operative engagement with gear-wheel36 operated by 'a tension spring 31. The eccentric- I1 is also mounted on the same axis 30. Half of the periphery of the gear 33 is provided with teeth as at 34 y The device I3 functions as follows: The cam 32 is rotated counter-clockwise the number of min- .utes required for the device to reach its ultimate position@ The clock mechanism is` released as the device is introduceddnto the well. The operation of the clock mechanism causes the cam 32 to rotate in the direction shown by the arrow. Then the cam shoulder 42 raises the lever 46, this automatically raises the lever 3l out of engagement withgear 36, thus permitting spring 31 to rotate y said gear. Gear'33 is then rotated by gear 36 in the 4clocl-:wise direction. Since gear 33 is geared along half of its periphery,it will only rotate about 180, thus causing-the eccentric I1 to move piston I5 into and out of engagement with the recording characters I2 onV wheel II. 'This will result in but one impression and prevent con-1"" fusion by the repetitioncf impressions.

The recoil or shock-absorbing means, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, are usually placed in the bottom of the lowest section of the drill pipe just above the drill bit, but they may be placed at any'other point in said drill pipe, depending upon the location of the point at which it is desired to determine the deviation from vertical. A coil spring I9, of a resilience sumcient to withstand the impact of the device dropped from the top of the bore hole into-the drilling mud in the drill pipe, is placed on the shoulder 26 of the tool joint 2i connected to the lower endof the drill pipe`22f"1r`iig 23 `with a bevelled inner surface 24 is set on the coil spring I9 andheld centrally with'respect to the drill pipe 22 by means of a plurality of centering leaf springs 25, the bevelled inner surface.24 of the ring 23 having a pitch whichcorresponds to. that of the cone-shaped bottoms'hoe'l 2 cf the recordingdevice shown-in Fig. 1. Holes 24a are provided in the body of the ring 23 for a free passage of the drill mud therethrough. A plurality of guide springs 26 attached to the ring 23 direct l,

.the recording device into the ring23 and maintain said device in the longitudinal axis of the drill pipe 22 during .the taking of said record of the deviation.

Fig. 7 shows a modiedform'of a device. forr' spring 26.

The recoil or shock-absorbing means having been assembled and installed in the drill pipe 22 as described hereinabove, said drill pipe is lowered into the bore hole 21 to perform the usual drilling operation. When it is desired to determine the deviation `of the bottom of the bore hole from vertical, the deviation recording device, assembled 4as shown in Fig. l and described hereinabove, is dropped into the drill pipe. The drilling liquid, such as rotary mud, is circulated. The device drops, or is'allowed to descend with the mud, through the drill pipe until it reaches the recoil or shock-absorbing means,V the latter receiving the impact and alining said device with the longitudinal axis of the drill pipe 22. It is to be' understood that the outside diameter of the deviation recording device must"be substantially .smaller than the inner diameter of the tool joints throughI the openings in these tool joints, being guided through them by the cone-shaped bottom end 2. When the deviation recording device reaches the shock-absorbing means, the cone shaped bottom shoe 2 guided bythe springs 26 enters into the correspondingly bevelled ring 23, said centering springs 26 aligning the hollow pipe portion I of the device with the longitudinal axis of the drill pipe 22. If the bore hole, and therefore the' drill pipe 22, is not vertical at the point where the recoil or shock-absorbing means `are located, the weight III attached to the spindle 4 will .move so as toV be in the plane of maximum deviation, thereby rotating plate '3 and the pivotally attached wheel II into the same plane. At

the same time, the wheel 'II rotates on its pivot ducing member I6 into engagement with the type meantime the "freezing of the bit in the bore hole is prevented by continuing the circulationv of the rotary drilling mud.

After a record is producedfthe deviation recording device may be removed from the bore (broken 011' according to drilling parlance)v hole by withdrawing the drill pipe. and the record produced by said deviation-recording device gives the inclination of the bore hole from vertical at the respective point. Before withdrawing the drill pipe, the circulation of the drilling mud down through the pipe is necessarily cut o1! according to the prevailing practice in order to permit the drill pipe sections to be disconnected preparatory to their removal as the drill pipefis gradually elevated section by section.

It is to be understood that the deviation ofthe bore hole may be determined without the "use of a drill pipe and without the circulation of a liquid, such as rotary mud. Such is the case when,

for example, the drill pipe string is out ofthe device reaches the bottom oi the hole. After a predetermined period oi' time, during which the parts of the device are permitted to come to rest and a record is automatically taken, the record producing device may be withdrawn from the bore hole by some known means, such as for example a iishing tool.

It is also to be understood that the specic disclosures herein made are merely illustrative of the generic invention and are not to be considered as limiting, since many variations may be made within the scope of the claim hereof by those skilled in the art.

In a cushioning and positioning device for a record taking instrument, a coil spring adapted to be placed in a drill pipe string, a ring placed on said coil spring, entering springsfor said ring,

and a vplurality of guide springs adapted to receive the record taking instrument and to maintain the same in the longitudinal axis of said drill pipe string. 4

' FRANCIS W. LAKE.

J. H. WALLACE, Je. 

